DXF (Drawing eXchange Format) is a solid modeling format used by AutoCAD systems. DXF options are controlled with the "DXF" preferences (in menu File / Preferences..., "I/O" section, "DXF" tab).

This dialog controls the list of acceptable DXF layers. These layers can be typed into the edit field, separated by commas.

By default, Electric flattens DXF input, removing levels of hierarchy and creating a single cell with the DXF artwork. By unchecking the "Input flattens hierarchy", Electric will preserve the structure of the DXF file.

If a layer name in the DXF file is not found in the list of acceptable layers, it will be ignored. If you check "Input reads all layers", then all layers are read into Electric, regardless of whether the layer names are known.

To control scaling, you can change the meaning of units in the DXF file. The default unit is "Millimeters", which means that a value of 5 in the DXF file becomes 5 millimeters in Electric.